Square 9 ECM Blog

Ditch File Cabinets, Improve Productivity

Many organizations still rely on filing cabinets to store and protect their most sensitive workplace records. However, today’s office space is being used more resourcefully, and bulky file cabinets pose more problems than real estate. From accessibility to productivity, old storage methods like filing cabinets can drastically minimize an organization’s efficiency, time and cost savings. Are you looking to improve records management processes in your business? Start by ditching those filing cabinets for a digital solution.

Eliminate the Document Hunt:There is no search button on a filing cabinet. Locating a document means manually searching through drawers full of files and folders. But by using Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Software, you can find the exact documents you are looking for, instantly, without leaving your desk. These documents are converted to digital files with full text-searchable capabilities, simplifying cross-referencing. Even complex searches are streamlined with the ability to search by metadata, upon multiple fields. If a company needed to find every file that mentions a particular client, they could search the database for every reference of that name.

Gain Visibility under Tight Security: Filing cabinets can hold your documents, but they can’t tell you who looked at them. ECM software records every document action including when a file was accessed, what actions took place and by who. Views, edits, approvals, everything is recorded in a document history audit log. Therefore, administrators have full visibility into how far along a document is in its lifecycle. Additionally, effective document management is achieved through the appropriate security measures. Filing cabinets can be locked, however if someone wants to access a file, they can find a way to get that key. Content management software determines who has access to certain files by making them visible only to those with appropriate permissions.

Remote Accessibility:Do your employees often work from home? Does their position require them to travel? If so, it is critical that they have access to specific documents when they are not in the office. Having business documents accessible from anywhere is not only more efficient records management, but can save a lot of time and stress. With web-based document management software, records are accessible through a laptop, tablet or smartphone, lightening the load of paperwork to carry and reducing the stress of forgetting a file. Having ECM software in place also promotes easier collaboration among employees, especially across geographic locations. By having the ability to quickly access documents and share them, it allows users to work together on the same project, even remotely, with no hassle.

Productivity Leads to Cost Savings:Time is money and eliminating the inefficiencies of working with filing cabinets will result in immediate cost savings. Sloppy document management creates a lack of process and communication, resulting in delays and lost productivity. Advanced records management software comes equipped with workflow automation functionality, which streamlines the most common business processes, alerting staff of necessary actions to keep everyone productive. Additionally, the cost for filing cabinets, supplies and the real estate required to store them on site is substantial. Let alone if a company uses off-site storage, the cost to store and retrieve files is equally expensive. With records management software, the time spent searching for documents through several filing cabinets can now be used to get more work done.

Enterprise Content Management technology is designed to address several areas for improved information management in businesses of all sizes. It enables employees to be more productive and ultimately more efficient. Learn more by visiting www.square-9.com/products/enterprise-content-management/ today.